This course was created with the
course builder. Create your online course today.
Start now
Create your course
with
Autoplay
Autocomplete
Previous Lesson
Complete and Continue
Writing a Rhyming Nonfiction Picture Book
How this project came about
1: Secrets of the Loon - Why I'm documenting this process (Feb 28, 2019 #1) (1:10)
2: How this picture book project came about (Feb 28, 2019 #2) (5:15)
3: My questions and contract terms (Feb 28, 2019 #3) (7:14)
4: My meeting with the editor (Feb 28, 2019 #4) (9:38)
Writing my way toward an approach
5: Feeling the pressure & three areas I'm thinking about (Feb 28, 2019 #5) (7:20)
6: Feeling anxious (Mar 7, 2019 #1) (2:49)
7: Brainstorming possible story structures (Mar 7, 2019 #2) (7:08)
8: What will the big picture conflict be? (Mar 7, 2019 #3) (7:20)
9: Story structures I want to try (Mar 7, 2019 #4) (6:18)
10: Sketching out my first attempt at the storyline (Mar 7, 2019 #5) (7:02)
11: My research so far (Mar 7, 2019 #6) (4:27)
12: Next steps and trying out a diary format (Mar 14, 2019) (5:27)
13: Can I tell this story in haiku? (Mar 14, 2019) (2:37)
14: Or there's always good old prose (Mar 14, 2019) (4:28)
15: Heyyyyy, what about rhyme? (Mar 14, 2019) (2:36)
16: My word notebook! (Mar 14, 2019) (4:06)
17: Reading, research, and word gathering (Mar 21, 2019) (4:48)
18: How old is that loonling? Reconciling loon age with photos with story (Mar 21, 2019) (5:10)
19: Narrowing down four possible formats to my favorite two (Mar 21, 2019) (4:12)
Contracts, research, and story structure
20: How do I describe loon calls? (Mar 28, 2019) (4:03)
21: Loon research on the road (Mar 28, 2019) (3:49)
22: Progress on the contract end of things (Mar 28, 2019) (5:24)
23: An update on the loons contract and attorney (Apr 4, 2019) (3:57)
24: Making a tiny bit of research progress while doing author visits (Apr 4, 2019) (2:24)
25: Some nontraditional research this week (Apr 4, 2019) (5:17)
26: Yeehaw! Done with my loon research! (Apr 12, 2019) (5:01)
27: Thoughts on picture book illustration--photo illustrations in particular! (Apr 12, 2019) (5:49)
28: My biggest challenge as I start my full first draft (Apr 12, 2019) (7:02)
29: Trying to condense my storyline--why? (Apr 12, 2019) (7:06)
30: I have a contract! (Apr 22, 2019) (3:16)
Writing the book
31: Building rhyming word sets (Apr 22, 2019) (6:18)
32: The pros and cons of sharing work in progress (Apr 25, 2019) (4:31)
33: Using a mentor text in my first draft (Apr 25, 2019) (7:16)
34: First rhyming draft is finished! (Apr 25, 2019) (0:57)
35: Whee! It's a fully executed contract! (May 6, 2019) (2:06)
36: Three rhyming drafts plus a grid (May 6, 2019) (8:03)
37: My editor's response to her first look at a rhyming version (May 6, 2019) (4:14)
38: An in-person meeting with the photographer and editor (gulp) (May 6, 2019) (6:08)
39: My editor likes my rhyming draft! (May 10, 2019) (4:57)
40: Figuring out my next steps based on editor's reaction (May 20, 2019) (7:10)
41: Draft 4 -- What I improved and what I still need to work on (May 21, 2019) (5:42)
42: Draft 5 (May 22, 2019) (5:34)
43: Adding in more description and setting in draft 6 (May 22, 2019) (8:37)
44: Improving verbs and sensory details in drafts 7-9 (May 23, 2019) (6:41)
45: Sending in draft 11 and thinking about photo selection (May 31, 2019) (3:37)
46: Why I'm sending in an imperfect draft (May 31, 2019) (3:10)
47: My editor's feedback on draft 11 (Jun 3, 2019) (6:39)
48: How I changed two passages (Jun 3, 2019) (7:18)
49: I read draft 12 aloud (Jun 3, 2019) (6:34)
Focusing on backmatter and collaboration
50: Thinking about backmatter and design (Jun 19, 2019) (7:38)
51: Backmatter decisions (Jun 28, 2019) (7:02)
52: Figuring out credits and bylines on a collaborative project (Jul 19, 2019) (5:12)
53: Tweaking catalog/sales copy (Aug 2, 2019) (9:05)
54: Comments/questions from the editor and the photographer (Aug 2, 2019) (9:31)
55: Editing backmatter written by collaborator (Aug 9, 2019) (8:00)
56: Filling out the author questionnaire (Aug 28, 2019) (14:51)
57: Tentative cover and expert review of manuscript (Aug 28, 2019) (12:25)
58: Giving feedback on final text with contact sheet (Sep 11, 2019) (10:09)
Layout and design
59: Time for the book to go to layout! (Sep 16, 2019) (2:05)
60: Juvenile loons can't wail? When facts get in the way. (Sep 16, 2019) (9:18)
61: Meeting with my editor (Oct 4, 2019) (4:55)
62: Seeing first pages and giving feedback (Nov 25, 2019) (8:28)
63: Second pages are so much better! (Nov 25, 2019) (5:46)
64: A small step back with third pages (Dec 2, 2019) (8:21)
65: A photo switch means a text adjustment (Dec 13, 2019) (4:53)
66: Fourth (and final) pages (Dec 13, 2019) (12:02)
Getting ready for publication
67: A marketing meeting (Dec 27, 2019) (10:20)
68: My first copies of SECRETS OF THE LOON! (Feb 3, 2020) (1:05)
69: The writing adventure is over (Feb 10, 2020) (4:17)
70: Reading the book aloud! (Feb 10, 2020) (6:00)
71: Secrets of the Loon Book Trailer (1:21)
66: Fourth (and final) pages (Dec 13, 2019)
Lesson content locked
If you're already enrolled,
you'll need to login
.
Enroll in Course to Unlock